Doe v. Sundquist

• Decision Date: 23 August 1996
• Docket Number: No. 3:96-0599.,3:96-0599.
• Citation: 943 F.Supp. 886
• Parties: Promise DOE, Kimberly C. and Russ C., and Small World Ministries, Inc. v. Donald SUNDQUIST, Governor of the State of Tennessee, in his official capacity; Charles Burson, Attorney General of the State of Tennessee, in his official capacity; and Linda Rudolph, in her official capacity as the Commissioner of the Department of Human Services for the State of Tennessee.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee

Page 886

943 F.Supp. 886

Promise DOE, Kimberly C. and Russ C., and Small World Ministries, Inc. v. Donald SUNDQUIST, Governor of the State of Tennessee, in his official capacity; Charles Burson, Attorney General of the State of Tennessee, in his official capacity; and Linda Rudolph, in her official capacity as the Commissioner of the Department of Human Services for the State of Tennessee.

No. 3:96-0599.

United States District Court, M.D. Tennessee, Nashville Division.

August 23, 1996.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Larry Lamont Crain, Kevin H. Theriot, Brentwood, TN, for plaintiffs.

Dianne Stamey Dycus, Nashville, TN, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM:

JOHN T. NIXON, Chief Judge.

Pending before this Court is Plaintiffs' Motion for a Preliminary Injunction barring Defendants from unsealing and disclosing to any third persons confidential records contained in Plaintiffs' adoption files, which the State of Tennessee has in its custody. Doc. No. 79. Also pending before the Court is Plaintiffs' Motion to Consolidate the Preliminary Injunction Hearing with a Hearing on the Merits. Doc. No. 71.

The Court finds that Plaintiffs fail to meet the requisite standard of review to support a preliminary injunction, and therefore denies Plaintiffs' Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. The Court also denies Plaintiffs' Motion to Consolidate the Preliminary Injunction Hearing with a Hearing on the Merits.

BACKGROUND:

On May 15, 1996, the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee enacted Chapter 532 of the Tennessee Public Acts of 1996 ("the Act"). The Act includes a number of changes, which substantially alter certain aspects of adoption law in Tennessee. The new statute revises the process for obtaining access to the records of persons placed for adoption in the past. These records were sealed as a result of 1951 legislation which limited adoption record access to those adoptees who brought court proceedings and successfully demonstrated a compelling interest in accessing their sealed files. The 1996 Act would permit immediate access to the formerly sealed records for adult adoptees, certain close relatives, and legal representatives upon the verification of those persons' identities. As a protective measure, the 1996 Act enables persons whose identities are sought to register for a veto prohibiting contact with themselves and their families without their approval. Enforcement of the "no contact" veto by the persons sought would be through civil injunctive and damages action. Violation of the veto can also result in criminal sanctions under the Act.

Plaintiffs in this case are Promise Doe and Jane Roe, women who had given children up for adoption under the prior statutory scheme, Kimberly C. and Russ C., the adoptive parents of two children who became part of the C. family under the previous legal framework, and Small World Ministries, a Tennessee adoption agency, which facilitated adoptions under the prior law. Plaintiffs bring suit against the following persons in their official capacities: Donald Sundquist, Governor of the State of Tennessee, Charles Burson, Attorney General of the State of Tennessee, and Linda Rudolph, Commissioner of the Department of Human Services for the State of Tennessee.

In their efforts to obtain injunctive relief, Plaintiffs challenge the portion of the 1996 Act which allows adult adoptees, certain of their close relatives, or their representatives to access formerly sealed files. Additionally, Plaintiffs take issue with the Act's prospective provisions which will allow adoptees, relatives and representatives to access sealed files in the future as adopted children reach the age of majority. Plaintiffs contend that the challenged provisions of the Act violate their familial right of privacy under the United States Constitution, their legitimate expectation that their identities and identifying information would remain confidential, and their constitutional right of privacy under the Tennessee Constitution. Further, Plaintiffs maintain that the historical underpinnings of adoption law in the United States favor the preservation of privacy of adoption records, and that Defendants are estopped from breaching their promise to maintain the confidentiality of such records.

Defendants respond by arguing that a preliminary injunction is improper on the grounds that Plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim, Plaintiffs cannot show a probability of irreparable harm if an injunction is not granted, the issuance of an injunction will likely harm others, and the issuance of an injunction is contrary to the public interest.

Plaintiffs sought and obtained a Temporary Restraining Order enjoining enforcement of the Act on June 25, 1996. Doc. Nos. 2, 10. By agreed order the matter proceeded to a hearing regarding further injunctive relief, which took place on July 25, 1996. Doc. No. 11. After reviewing the exhibits filed with this Court and evaluating the testimony and arguments presented, the Court finds that the Plaintiffs fail to meet the requisite standard of review to support a preliminary injunction. Accordingly, the Court denies Plaintiffs' Motion.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AND STATUTORY BACKGROUND:

The first discussion of adoption in Tennessee law appears in 1852 when the Tennessee General Assembly granted jurisdiction to the county and circuit courts authorizing the adoption of children on application. See 1852 Tenn.Pub.Acts, Chap. 338. At that time, the Court recorded the names of the parties and the terms of an adoption. Id. The first statutes addressing confidential adoption records appear in 1917 in connection with "foundlings or other abandoned children whose parentage is unknown, and who have not been assigned by court order to a child-caring organization." 1917 Tenn.Pub.Acts, Chap. 120, § 5, sub.sec. 4. The legislature indicated that a judge "in his discretion" could "require that all papers relating to the personal history of such child or family history if any is of record, be sealed and filed in the county archives, to be unsealed only by judicial order." Id.

In 1949, the Tennessee General Assembly amended the state's adoption statutes and sealed records of the adopted child's "real name," any information obtained by the Tennessee Department of Public Welfare in its investigation of the adoption petition, and any reports filed by the Department with the court. 1949 Tenn.Pub.Acts, Chap. 127 §§ 3, 5, and 6. However, the law also stated that "upon petition by an adopted person who is over twenty-one ...," a judge could require the department to deliver "the secret records relating to said adopted person" and the judge would open and inspect the records and release to the adopted person any contents as he "in his sound discretion" deemed to be in the best interest of the adopted person and to the State of Tennessee. Id. § 8. In 1951, the statute was again amended, and the legislature placed all adoption records under seal and forced adoptees seeking information to file a court order. 1951 Tenn.Pub.Acts, Chap. 202 § 24. Disclosure was predicated upon a court finding that it would be in the best interest of the adoptee or the public to have the information released. Id. at § 26. The current challenged proposals represent the first changes to the adoption law as amended since 1951.

Those proposals were generated by the Tennessee Adoption Law Study Commission (ALSC). In 1993, State Senator Douglas Henry co-sponsored Joint Resolution No. 17, which formalized the ALSC. Affidavit of Senator Douglas Henry, Doc. No. 77, p. 1. The state legislature created the Commission to study all aspects of Tennessee adoption law in order to revise, update, and clarify existing law. Id. The eleven member ALSC began its study in August 1993 and held a number of statewide public hearings soliciting public comment on the current adoption process and avenues for revision. Id., p. 3. The ALSC presented its recommendations to the Tennessee General Assembly in 1995, which led to the promulgation of the Adoption law currently at issue.

When the challenged Adoption Reform law was introduced and first considered by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1995, several legislators expressed concerns over the bill's ability to adequately protect the privacy of the biological parents who entered into the adoption process. Affidavit of State Representative Carol J. Chumney, Doc. No. 89, p. 2. As a result of these concerns, the legislature delayed until July 1, 1996 the effective date of the portion of the bill dealing with confidential records for adoptions occurring subsequent to March 16, 1951. Additionally, the legislature formed a Joint Adoption Study Committee (JASC) to consider the adequacy of the privacy protection afforded by the bill. Id.

Subsequently, State Representative Carol Chumney, a member of the JASC, introduced legislation in the House, accompanied by companion bills in the Senate sponsored by Senators David Fowler and Doug Henry, to restore privacy protection for biological parents who entered into the adoption process after March 16, 1951. Id. at 3, 1. The Tennessee State Legislature's full House and full Senate Judiciary Committees voted in the spring of 1996 to revise the bill, heightening protection for adoptees or birth parents who did not wish to have their identities divulged. Id. at 4. The House reauthorized the prior mutual consent process for adoptions occurring between March 16, 1951 and July 1, 1996, and required an expanded contact veto provision for adoptions finalized after July 1, 1996. Id. The revised contact veto allowed for the redaction of identifying information which could lead to unwanted contact or disclosure from confidential files requested by adoptees, birth parents, or their representatives. Id. The Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed an amendment that would have expanded the law's contact veto provisions to remove identifying information from confidential adoption...